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Before I started my internship at Union Broadcasting, I had many doubts about whether I wanted to actually do the internship. I already had a busy summer planned with my job and summer classes. I felt like the internship would be a waste of time and prevent me from doing other things that I wanted to do. However, after talking it over with my dad, I decided to go ahead and do the internship. That decision turned out to be a very good one. My internship experience at Union Broadcasting was a blast. I was able to learn so much about the sports radio business and meet a ton of people along the way. The internship also made me consider changing my career path and possibly pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. Regardless of whether I do decide to pursue that route, my two months working at Union Broadcasting were very enjoyable and something I will remember for a long time.
A typical day for me at Union Broadcasting involved a lot of different assignments depending on what they needed. I would get there everyday at 6 AM. Some days there would be another intern there with me, but most of the time I was by myself. From 6-9 AM there was a show called “The Border Patrol” hosted by Stephen St. John and Bob Fesco, which I spent most of my time helping out with. On any given day I would be asked to do things such as printing out articles, writing and cutting up sound bytes, writing down track numbers, looking up stats and information on the Internet, and answering and screening most phone calls. There were days when I was asked to do things like going out and getting food, but that didn’t happen very often. The task I most often did was answering the phones. The radio station gets so many phone calls from people wanting to be on the air or people wanting to give us suggestions, and I was responsible for handling those calls. Also, whenever the station gave away prizes, I had to get names and information from people, and that got pretty hectic with the phones going off every two seconds.
The show I mainly worked on called “The Border Patrol” is one of the most popular radio programs in the mornings in Kansas City. The hosts of the show Stephen and Bob are two of the most respected journalists in Kansas City. Working with them every week was definitely an adventure. There were days when they would act like they didn’t want to be there and were very irritable, and there were other days when they would act like kids and joke around all the time. Most of the time, they were real laid back and easy to get along with. Probably the biggest thing that surprised me working at Union Broadcasting was how laid back the atmosphere was there. All of the guys that work there were so easy to get along with and most of the employees are in their mid-twenties, so they still have that college-kid attitude in them. The dress there was extremely casual; rarely did anyone even wear a collared shirt. Shorts, sandals, a t-shirt, and a hat was the normal attire for most of the people. Looking back on it, I think it would be great to work in an atmosphere where you can wear what you want, say whatever you want, and pretty much act they way you want without getting in trouble for it, and that’s pretty much the way things worked at Union Broadcasting. The most significant thing I felt like I did when I was there was simply getting to know everyone that worked there. There was so much downtime in the four hours I worked their that just chatting with the guys was a big part of the job. During the course of a typical four-hour day, I would probably see about fifty different people walking in and out of the studio. Most of the people that came in and out worked for the radio station and I got to at least meet most of them. One of my goals going into the internship experience was getting to meet people in case I ever need help finding a job. In my two months there, I met a ton of people. By the end of my internship, I became pretty good friends with the producer of “The Border Patrol.” His name was Jake Gutierrez. I picked his brain a lot in my time there and I was very lucky to have the opportunity to work with him as much as I did. In fact, on my last day there he told me that if I ever needed help with anything just to email him or call him. I think it is really cool that I have a reference now in the radio business that I can call on for help.
Even though my internship may have been different from other interns’, I believe my internship was as meaningful and helpful as any other interns. I was able to meet and interact with several famous on-air personalities in the Kansas City area and I had the opportunity to meet several former Kansas City Royals players such as Brian McRae, Mike McFarlane, and even Hall of Famer George Brett. Not many other interns can say they had these opportunities. I remember my second day working at Union Broadcasting, when George Brett walked in the room next to me I got chills all over my body. I couldn’t believe I was standing right next to a hall of fame baseball player. Those are the kinds of opportunities you get working at a sports radio station. Not only was I able to meet people in the sports casting business, but I was also able to meet DJ’s for the other radio station there, 97.3 The Planet. I was able to meet other interns that went to other schools, and had the same interests as me; that I was able to become friends with.
Working for a sports radio station was almost like a fantasy for me. I’ve watched sports all of my life and listened to sports radio in Kansas City for the last four years that I have lived there. I really was sad to leave Union Broadcasting at the end of the summer, and hopefully I can help out there again over Christmas Break or maybe even next summer. My internship was definitely a great success and something that I will remember for the rest of my life
- Joey Falkoff |
